Lesson 34 - Night Cross-Country Trip
November 14, 2023
Tonight, we are going to take-off from Rostraver and we will go to Clarksburg. We are going to use in-flight GPS, as well as we are going to request flight-following on our way to and back from Clarksburg. I will be Pilot In Command for the duration of the flight and you will be the passenger. Just relax and enjoy the trip to Clarksburg.
- Me, as a PIC, to Drew, CFI.
Tonight's trip was the most successful cross-country trip so far. We covered a lot and checked off some important requirements for my check-ride. Most important thing for me was to prove to my CFI, that I am capable of assuming PIC capacity, and take him to and back from Clarskburg - safely.
We met at Rostraver airport at around 6:30 - 7 PM. It was already pitch dark by then. The weather could not be more perfect. As a PIC, I reviewed the weather briefing, along with en-route winds aloft, departure and arrival conditions, runway diagrams for expected runway and taxi, NOTAMs for the Clarskburg airport. Everything was good. So we decided to proceed with our plan.
During night time all the usual ground references are not visible, so there isn't much to look outside. I used this opportunity to put on Foggles and get some simulated instrument time under my belt.
Introduction to Foggles
Foggles are a pair of special goggles that has the top part of the glass fogged. With foggles on, a pilot cannot see anything outside, but only the instruments inside the cockpit. That way a pilot can learn to fly the aircraft using only the instruments. There is a 3 hours of simulated intrument flying time, or foggles time, or hood time requirement for PPL, as it trains a pilot to fly through IMC (Instrument Meteorological Conditions) conditions. As a VFR pilot, I am always going to keep myself clear of clouds, but in case I get into inadvertent IMC conditions, such as fog or clouds that would limit my visibility, I need to be trained to turn around and get myself out of dangerous IMC conditions.
As soon as I took off and turned crosswind, I put on foggles. All I could see was instruments - the digital Garmin G5 and HSI, maps, six-pack of steam guages, transponder, ammeter, oil temp. and pressure guages. It was a different experience and I discovered a lot of cool things:
During this trip I understood how to manage altitude and heading with minimum input. Pitch-Power-Trim combination to manage altitude and airspeed during cruise was one of the greatest discovery. The rise and drop in RPM and sensing it using my ears to determine whether plane is climbing, descending, or staying level was a different experience. Smallest of throttle adjustment can stabilize the altitude, which I did not understand before.
I used foggle time to also explore different features of Garmin GPS and maps. There are a lot of things that come really handy in-flight, things such as loading the destination information, reviewing airport diagram, check traffic in the vicinity, switching between frequencies, etc. One of the screens Drew showed me was a dashboard screen that showed all the relevant information for the trip. All that setup in-flight, I thought it was all really neat.
Radio communications are not as daunting as I thought they were. Of course it took me a lot of practice to become comfortable with it, but once I understood the flow of information that flows back-and-forth, it just feels logical. All they require from you during flight following is your altitude, destination, fuel situation, and type and model of aircraft. After that, they provide you with a transpoder code to isolate your plane, and from there it is an easy ride. You just communicate with them as things unfold, and unless you make a series of bad decisions, there isn’t much going on. Tonight’s trip cemented the comfort level of flying to a foreign field for me, and I was far more relaxed than the Morgantown trip.
Tonight's cross-country was a tremendous success for me, as I demonstrated that I am able to fly to a foreign airport and come back safely. I can be a PIC. That is a huge confidence booster. I also got couple of night landing under my belt. Speaking of which, landing at Clarkburg was so calm, so serene, I thought I could just glide forever over that runway.
Tonight’s XC was a concrete next step towards earning my further endorsements. With holidy season, and winter weather, I will have to be patient, but I can’t wait to get on with what’s next in store for me.
Great Clarksburg landing and the video recording. Interesting to know about Foggle.